Manly were the first to score to lead 6-0 however Penrith soon struck back when Tyrone Peachey evaded the sliding defensive line and stepped and jinked his way over the line. It remained unconverted at Manly kept a two-point lead.

Two more tries and a penalty conversion to the Sea Eagles had them lead 20-4 at half time.

Soon after the resumption, another try to the home team had them up 22-4.

In the 48th minute, the Panthers would be the next to score when Bryce Cartwright kicked on the third tackle, stabbing it through to the in goal, with the bounce holding up for Josh Mansour who took it mid-air and managed to hold on to possession as he grounded it in the corner.

Minutes later Penrith reduced the deficit further when Nathan Cleary ran into a hole and crossed for his maiden NRL try, with Peter Wallace’s conversion making it 24-14.

In the 66th minute Leilani Latu steamed on to a ball at close range and barged over, with the try converted to reduced Manly’s lead to 4.

Three minutes later Tryone Peachey broke the line and found Wallace in support to score Penrith’s fourth try in 21 minutes and wiping the 18-point deficit to tie it up at 24-all. His conversion saw the visitors lead for the first time.

In the 74th minute a deft offload from Cartwright found Waqa Blake who broke the line, and in a simple two on one drew in the Manly fullback and passed to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak who crossed over untouched.

The remarkable comeback was iced in the 77th minute with a Moylan field goal to make it an all important 7 point margin, and one that the Panthers were able to retain to full time.